FORMER York City coach Adie Shaw has returned to North Yorkshire with his new charges after shipping them 5,000 miles from the Caribbean.

The St Vincent and Grenadines squad touched down in sub-zero temperatures on Monday for a two-week games and training tour to kick off the team's preparations for the World Cup 2006 qualifiers in June - starting with a back garden in Green Hammerton.

Shaw said: "It was a little bit of a culture shock when they landed because it was minus four but we got them some warm clothes and they're really enjoying it now. It's all an experience and an adventure to them."

Sky Sports presenter David Craig - an old friend of Shaw's - offered to let the international team use his back garden after other training plans in the area fell through. And both the Sky TV cameras and former City boss Terry Dolan were there to capture the moment.

Shaw was appointed as the manager of the national side in October after being sent on 'gardening leave' by City in the summer along with manager Dolan and said the first month had gone well. "It's excellent. This is only about the fourth time they have trained together. Some of them are part-timers and some of them are professional.

"A lot of the problem with arranging training is that St Vincent and the Grenadines isn't just one island - there are lots of different islands - so to try and get the whole group together is quite difficult.

"The main difference between this and York City is that in England, everything's set up. You've got the facilities, the structure and you've got the players. In St Vincent, you haven't got any of that structure.

"It's very difficult to spot people and get people together - I now know how Sven Goran Eriksson feels when he can't arrange a training session.

"The facilities in St Vincent are nothing like in this country. These lads dream of playing at York City or somewhere like that."

Player Marlon Jameson, 27, said the Green Hammerton field was one of the best he had ever trained in: "It's good here because of the great football atmosphere and I'm used to the cold because I used to play in the Portugese third division as a professional. The facilities here are definitely better than at home."

Matches against Chesterfield, Tranmere Rovers and Wycombe Wanderers have all been scheduled as part of the tour - with a big crowd hoped for at Wycombe because of the 4,000-strong St Vincent community in the town.

All three will mark an important phase in the team's preparations for the two-leg qualifier against Nicaragua in June.

Shaw is still hoping to persuade Coventry City's Julian Joachim to join Rushden striker Rodney Jack up front in time for the Nicaragua tie, which will be the first competitive match for St Vincent in three years.

Shaw said: "The draw is a strange one because Nicaragua are not really classed as a Caribbean team so we know very little about the way they play.

"We are classed as the stronger team because we are slightly higher in the rankings so basically they are the underdogs and everyone knows about the underdog in cup competitions."

Updated: 11:54 Wednesday, December 10, 2003